NBC executive Fred Gaudelli said Tuesday that the network does not plan to shy away from showing protests on Super Bowl Sunday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks for watching!

“When you are covering a live event, you are covering what’s happening,” Gaudelli said a Television Critics Association event in California. “If there are players who choose to kneel, they will be shown live.”

It's entirely unclear whether any players will choose to protest at the Super Bowl. After surging popularity early in the season, fewer players took a knee during the anthem as the season wore on. In the final week of the season, 19 players kneeled, sat or didn't come out the locker room during the anthem, Fox News reports.

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks for watching!

ADVERTISEMENT

Thanks for watching!

But the uncertainly of whether NBC will even have any kneeling players to show isn't stopping some angry anthem lovers from declaring their intention to skip the Super Bowl altogether this year.

"They believe in the agenda of the kneelers, and therefore they're happy to show it and they're going to veil it under the fact that well, this is a news story and we're going to cover it. It's bad for their ratings too," Fox News host Pete Hegseth said Wednesday.

This plans to sit out the Super Bowl are not much of a shock given the boycotts that people on both sides of the issue have been holding all season long. Those who are offended by the protests, including President Trump, want the NFL to force players to stand for the anthem. While those who agree with the message of the demonstrations want to see the end of Colin Kaepernick's blackballing.

The one thing they've been able to agree on is that there are better ways to spend a Sunday than watching the NFL.